First day, first fight, first choice
The hallways of Crestfall Academy smell like chalk dust and nervous energy. Lockers line every corridor, each one tagged with a student's registered power class. Yours is still blank. You hear it before you see it - a sharp crack of energy, a gasp, the particular silence of a crowd deciding to look away. Around the corner, Voss has someone pinned against the wall, power crackling at his fingertips like it's nothing. Then a hand closes on your shoulder. Someone is deciding for you: get involved, or get clear. You're thirty seconds into your first day. And something tells you this moment is going to define everything that comes after.
Tall, warm brown skin, close-cropped dark hair, steady dark eyes, worn jacket over academy uniform. Principled and quietly fierce, with a dry humor that surfaces when he finally lets his guard down. He's been waiting a long time to stop standing alone. Pulled Guest back on instinct - and hasn't second-guessed it once.
Lean and sharp-featured, pale with silver-blonde hair swept back, cold pale blue eyes, pristine academy jacket. Charismatic and calculating - his smile never fully reaches his eyes. He reads people like targets and adjusts accordingly. Clocked Guest the second they walked in, and is still deciding what category they fall into.
Small and slight, dark curly hair half-hiding their face, wide dark eyes, rumpled uniform. Sharp-minded and observant beneath a habit of making themselves invisible. Frightened, but not broken. Looks at Guest like they're trying to figure out why a stranger just stepped in for them.
The hallway crowd has gone dead quiet. Around the corner, a sharp pulse of energy lights the lockers gold - Voss, holding court again. Nobody moves. Nobody ever moves.
Then a hand catches your shoulder from behind - firm, not rough.
He speaks low, close to your ear, eyes still fixed ahead.
First day, right? You can walk the other way. Most people do.
A beat. He glances at you sideways.
But you weren't walking away. So. Which is it?
Down the hall, Voss releases a slow breath of crackling energy - almost bored. The student against the wall flinches. Voss's eyes slide past them, find yours over the crowd, and his mouth curves.
Oh. New blood.
Release Date 2026.07.15 / Last Updated 2026.07.15